drive up the coast – it was an instant hit and he opened the Ålesund
Maki in 2007, hiring head chef Lars Petter Vikanes, who’s worked
at Switzerland’s two-Michelin-starred Domaine de Châteauvieux
and Noma in Copenhagen. Since then, Maki has become Ålesund’s
number one destination restaurant, and there’s a growing sense – as
one TripAdvisor reviewer notes – that Hjelmeseth would have at
least one Michelin star if he were in London.
Hjelmeseth reckons the fish around here is the best in the world,
and almost exclusively uses local seafood: “The water’s too hot in
the Mediterranean,” he says. “The fish don’t stay fresh as long and
they don’t keep their flavour.”
He gets to work on one of our cods, swiping effortlessly to get two
fillets (“they’re not as big as I usually get,” he complains), cutting
away the bony half to leave just fleshy chunks. Then he neatly slices
out the tongue and cuts into the cheek, taking out the bone.
The result, as we find out during our stunning five-course meal
later is astonishing: our cod cheek is part of a celery and cod cheek
soup, topped with melba toast and a smoked cod roe mayonnaise;
and our cod fillet is pan-roasted with oxtail, root vegetables, apple
and potato, the fish crispy on one side and dissolving on the other
into heavenly fluff. It’s almost unbelievable that something so
refined came from the sea hours earlier – but it makes for the most
civilised ending to a fishing trip we can think of.
Norwegian flies to Ålesund from new hub London Gatwick, as well as
Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim. Book a rental car at norwegian.com
Find more online
62.
no
actin.no
visitalesund-
geiranger.com
Ålesund in
a nutshell
Stay
The waterfront Hotel
Brosundet used to be a
fish-storage warehouse
before it was made over
by hip Oslo architects
Snøhetta in 2007 as an
understatedly cool 46-
room boutique hotel,
with a 47th room in the
Molja lighthouse at the
entrance to the harbour.
It boasts the best fish
restaurant in town,
Maki, and an elegant,
cosy bar.
brosundet.no
Eat
Aside from the excellent
Maki at the Hotel
Brosundet, XL Diner has
views out to sea past the
harbour and lighthouse,
and specialises in
excellent bacalao,
dried and salted cod
(
or klipfish) served with
potatoes and vegetables,
a dish that is most
popular in Portugal but
almost always comes
from this part of Norway.
xldiner.no
Do
Aside from the fishing,
skiing and activities
galore, you should
climb the 418 steps to
the Fjellstua lookout
overlooking the
town. You should also
head to the nearby
Geirangerfjord, a World
Heritage spot that
Lonely Planet
has named
Scandinavia’s top travel
spot – and which is often
touted as Norway’s most
beautiful fjord.
geiranger.no
This page
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Maki chef Ole Jonny
Hjelmeseth slices up our cod and
gets to work: the result is pan-
roasted cod fillet and a celery and
cod cheek soup with smoked cod
roe mayonnaise
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